Hyundai Santa Fe Transmission Problems

Comments

Nothing to do with country. The dealer also wanted to rebuild the transmission but I fought for a new transmission and I also had the paint issue on the car. So I think the dealer just gave me the benefit of the doubt.

Are you aware of the FIX for these tranny problems? Take it to the dealer and have them apply TSB 11-AT-011-1 (or any update). This fixed my problem with the harsh/ abrupt shifting. I had it done back in May and have smooth shifting since. I have posted here before concerning this topic. I REFUSED a new tranny (they will tell you NEW but it would be REBUILT). BTW any transmission will "clunk" such as at low speeds (going through a parking lot) as sometimes it will start to go into a gear but you force it to downshift due to the "crawling" through parking lot. Good luck!

You would have to follow the Tranny posts to see which engine dominates the problem. They have had a couple of computer updates to minimize the complaints, but in my case, the shifting problems remain the same as they were when my 6 cylinder (2010) was new.

I have a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, with automatic and 3.1 V6 (no AWD). When stopped on hill, car would not go forward & started to back into car behind me. I pressed on the accelerator until, with brakes squealing. it shot forward. A few days later, the wife started it up after work. It accelerated suddenly, almost hitting parked car. It goes to the dealer tomorrow, and I will mention the magnetic coupling and TSB possibilities. If it doesn't get fixed right, or they can't find anything at all, I will be contacting Hyundai and the Natl Traffic Safety board.

I own a 2005 sante fe and while im driving, no matter the speed, it will shift down then back up and over and over again. some times it doesnt do it at all and then it will just out of the blue do it again. does anyone know why this might be happening?

If you are still under Warranty, take it to your Dealer. They will probably tell you that they have to replicate the issue in order to deal with it.If it only happens rarely, they will most likely tell you to hang in there.

By the way that Tranny is different than the 6 Speed now having problems.

If I need to accelerate quickly, especially to pass, there is a mometary delay before the transmission responds. The motor reves than a couple of seconds later the car lurches forward. If you are in a curve or changing lanes, the lurching almost pulls the wheel out of your hands. I have had a few near "loss of control" incidents as a result. Is this a defect or simply a SantaFe design flaw.

Santa Fe's have always had transmission problems, ever since I bought my brand, spanking new in 2001. We put 3 transmissions in it the first year and then I had no more problems with it until it hit 150k miles. Then tranny went out and we never could get it "normal" again. I finally gave up and sold it cheap just to get rid of it. Stay away from the Santa Fe is what I would tell you. They are wonderful cars, with lots of room inside. Too bad they have never acknowledged the bad transmissions. I thought that after all these years they would have at least found a fix for it.

The 6 Speed Tranny is very suspect ranging from 2-3 Slams, delayed shifts,and hanging-up in various gears. I don't beleive they have a Fix other than the alleged computer updates. They won't beleive you unless they can duplicate the problem, so unless it's there full time, Lots of Luck.

There are a number of posts on the transmission problems with the 2010 V6 Santa Fe two wheel drive. My problems (see other posts under diamond) started with less than 5000 miles on it. They replaced the transmission (so they say) and put in a couple of software upgrades. My problem initially was it would jump into gear and sound like the whole xmission was going to drop out. After getting a new rebuilt xmission, it started jumping into gear when you started the car while in park. It still does that but hasn't lurched for a long time as it originally did. I now have about 38000 miles. You need to report this to the Transportation safety board. Hyundai regional customer reps aren't very responsive to the problem and have their heads in the sand hoping it will go away. good luck.

My 2004 Santa Fe started giving me issues Easter Weekend 2012 and no one has been able to help me, it is doing exactly what your vehicle has been doing along with shutting off from time to time while I am driving. I took it to Glen Burnie Transmissions they told me I didn't need a new transmission and Antwerpen Hyundai can not figure out why my truck is acting this way, I am so frustrated and disappointed if anyone can offer suggestions or a mechanic it will be greatly appreciated!

My 2004 Santa Fe GLS (automatic) is doing the same thing too. It has been fine, never needed major repairs, is low mileage for it's age. Battery is a yr old, hoses were replaced a month ago. It was fine until yesterday afternoon, then it went dead three times in a two minute period while in traffic. Before it did this, all the gauges lit up, the shifter vibrated, then it went dead. After a few minutes, I got it started up long enough to make the 2 minute drive home. While pulling into the garage, it died again. Any ideas? I read on another forum that there is a fuse issue with this particular yr/model.

Wired up temporary horn switch. I tried wiring to relay in fuse box but when I got half way removed, found it too difficult. I wired straight off + terminal at fuse box. Horn works. I took it for a drive and before I got off my street the car bucks and won't go into 3rd gear. It also stalls. Does the computer need to be flashed? Check engine light came on also.

I own a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS 4 cylinder. It appears I have the identical problem you are describing. I live in LA / Hollywood Hills Area and there have been numerous close calls where I am rear ended entering the 101 freeway entrances where there are sloped ramps or practically no ramps in areas forcing me to accelerate only to find a hesitation to the transmission and the engine ramp up to 5 or more RPMS. Allot of engine commotion, but no transmission response, and when the transmission finally responds, your neck gets whiplash and you need to really grab hold of the steering wheel to stay centered or if your already moving say on the freeway, when the transmission finally decides to act, you have no power as it accelerates lacking torque because the transmission shifts to an improper gear. Another issue I am having is going uphill. In areas such as the Hollywood Hills there are alot of residential and road byways that travel up the hill to meet mulholland drive, travelling up those inclines are a major pain on my Santa Fe. For example, from a full stop going uphill, the transmission makes it to second gear then seems to love staying on second, because unless I change to manual transmission shift, it will not engage to 3rd. The RPMs go up to 5 or higher, and I&#146;m not even putting on full throttle, If I do accelerate to promote the transmission to go to third, the engine slows me down as it starts compressing due to the RPM going so high up and stays in second gear. I relate this to when you have a piece of gum stuck on you and your trying your best to toss it and it just becomes stubbornly attached to you, the transmission just loves sticking on second gear. I Accelerate, Decelerate, Accelerate, Decelerate and nothing, its just stuck on second gear. Very annoying and frustrating. When I&#146;m traveling on the freeway, the engine ramps high with the RPM&#146;s on just a minor slope, no load and no passengers. As if the transmission computer does not know what gear to change to and becomes so dramatic on slight changes in the slightest inclines. I recently traveled to Montana, and while driving from Montana back to LA, I had to exit in Salt Lake City Utah, because the RPMS where reaching the red color on just the smallest freeway inclines and I felt the car hardly going forward, no torque power. Once stopped at the end of the ramp exit, I barely taped on the gas pedal to proceed from the ramp and the RPMs went all the way to the red while the car barely moved forward, the computer did not know what gear to change to, no torque power, only when I switch to manual shifting mode and shift myself, did the car start cooperating. Again, it seems like the computer does not know what gear to change to and appears that when you go manual shift mode, you bypass the computer programming. Its the only logical thing I cant think of. What I don&#146;t like is that the check engine light has never activated and when I have taken it to Puente Hills Hyundai, they state they cannot duplicate it. On the Montana trip, when I exited the freeway in Salt Lake City, I went straight to Murdock Hyundai as it was acting up. When I drove onto their service lane, I asked the adviser if one of their techs can jump in and drive the car since the transmission was shifting crazy, but the service advisor said there was no one available, so I turned off the car. When they got to it, it was working again and they did not duplicate it. All they did was reset the computer and stated they did a software update and let me continue the trip, the transmission started to act a bit better for the remainder of the trip. As of today, these issues are a common day problem for me. So I suppose that I must drive until something breaks or my family and I get rear ended. I'm currently at 48K miles and under warranty, but unless the tech can duplicate it Im out of luck. I want to enjoy the Santa Fe, but this is really killing it for us. Thankfully we have the option to switch to manual shifting mode.

I have a 2012 Hyundai Sante Fe with 1500 miles on it and last week the whole transmission gave out on me. The Vehicle is currently at the dealer awaiting a new transmission (covered under warranty). The dealer told me it was a internal default which means the whole unit needed to be replaced. When they hooked up the computer to the car it showed no bad sensors on the transmission. Has anyone heard of such a thing on a brand new SUV? This is very unfortunate and I hope this does not steer me away from other Hyundai vehicles in the future!

we have a 2007 Santa Fe , our transmission went all together . It only has reverse . We still owe $11000. on the loan and cant afford to purchase a new tranny and make the payments on the car too .. Hyunai should replace the tranny !! Isnt a Transmission supposed to last at least the life of the car ?? Our car has never been abusied in any way . This is the first car loan that Ive ever had , and now its going to ruin my good credit . :lemon:

The Identifix ratings we have here are good for Santa Fes. If you look around the forums, you'll see lots of transmission problems discussions. The actual failure rate for SFs is probably typical, but it's a real pain if your car winds up being one of the few percent that fails.

"Isnt a Transmission supposed to last at least the life of the car ??"

I dunno that may be a bit unrealistic. Yes we see here bad stories of Hyundai trannies with lots of problems and they really should look into this. Off the top of my head a transmission should last about 150,000 miles. But even when you take care of a car, parts can go bad. On my old Plymouth Voyager I had a piston rod snap and the tranny had to be rebuilt before I hit 100,000 miles.

I have a 2004 santa fe with 118,000 miles. At 63k miles, my car was towed and the day I picked it up I drove to my destination and parked. Upon starting up the car and attempting to shift from park to reverse the stick shift locked. Then I forced it into gear and broke the shifter to where it went from park to drive with almost no effort. I had it towed to a hyundai dealer and they supposedly fixed it and said it was the kotter pin. Now whenever I park on a hill or with the tires turned slightly or sometimes on a straight surface, it's impossible to put the car into reverse without rocking the car first with my foot out the door like Fred Flintstone. This doesn't occur all the time but has become frequent enough that I won't valet or loan my car to anyone. My mechanic thinks its the transmission but I disagree because it bagan at 63k miles. I want to sell the car but won't sell it with this problem. Do you have any ideas? Chris